Worship 4: Creative Fishing and Breaking Bricks

“You can do almost anything and catch a few fish but to do more you have to experiment, to be creative, in other words be willing to listen to the voice and fish on the other side of the boat.”

The brochure featured a picture of a guy’s head crashing through a pile of bricks and read: “Team Impact: Revolutionize Your City One Heart At A Time! Crowd-Drawing Entertainment… A ministry of world-class athletes who are also world-class preachers using feats of strength to convey a world-class message. An event so spectacular; people will stand in line, waiting for the church doors to open. This is how you reach the masses. A proven bait to fill your sanctuary with the lost…”

Breaking baseball bats? Chopping bricks? Ripping telephone books? Bending steel bars? I thought it was funny at first but something enticed me to keep this particular brochure. For several years, I had been looking for something that would help me reach out to people who would not normally come to a church service… but how? Could a “Team Impact” worship event be what I was looking for? No way!

The disciples had been fishing all night long and caught nothing. At dawn, a voice on the beach called out, “Friends, have you caught any fish?” They replied, “No.”

Then he said, “Throw out your net on the other side of the boat…” (From John 21:4-6)

“You can do almost anything and catch a few fish but to do more you have to experiment, to be creative, in other words be willing to listen to the voice and fish on the other side of the boat.”

At first the advise of the mysterious voice on the beach makes no sense. The distance from one side of the fishing boat to the other is only six feet. Six feet! How can moving the nets six measly feet catch any more fish? It doesn’t make sense unless you are willing to trust the voice… The disciples trusted. They threw the nets on the other side and couldn’t draw them in because there were so many fish.

The voice was urging me to throw my nets on the other side of the boat. So, our church invited “Team Impact” to Lynchburg, Virginia and for five days, four of the most powerful men in the world performed amazing feats of strength. One guy took a steel horseshoe and bent it into a heart. Another danced through fire breaking pile after pile of bricks. Another broke out of regulation police handcuffs behind his back. Crowds came from all over to watch them perform but the performance was simply bait…

Each man spoke of his faith in God. One served aboard the aircraft carrier, USS Saratoga and told of a sailor who fell overboard. He described the helplessness of struggling to stay afloat and watching his safe haven and his home sail away. The total darkness and the thought of creatures lurking beneath the surface was terrifying. After a few hours, a rescue chopper appeared and dangled a lifeline. But the sailor couldn’t reach it. As the light shined down from the chopper he could see the fin of a nearby shark circling closer and closer. Salvation was so close yet so far away. He desperately needed help.

At times we all feel lost and alone in a darkness filled with fear and foreboding. Unknown creatures seem to lurk just below the surface. God feels so close yet so far away. Our own efforts to reach the lifeline come up short. We desperately need help. The sailor received his help when a search and rescue expert shimmied down the rope, attached a special harness to him and together they were pulled upward to the safety of the chopper. Jesus is our search and rescue expert who shimmies down the rope and attaches a special harness to you and together we are pulled to the safety of God.

Each night people came forward to accept Jesus Christ as his or her Savior. Over one hundred and fifty lives were changed thanks to the unique ministry of “Team Impact.” Just as important, hundreds more of us felt our faith renewed and strengthened by the testimony of these mighty representatives of God. We listened to the voice, fished from the other side and our nets were filled to overflowing.

“You can do almost anything and catch a few fish but to do more you have to experiment, to be creative, in other words be willing to listen to the voice and fish on the other side of the boat.”

Share this:

Related Posts

Looking for words of encouragement, I typed the word “comfort” in a Bible program on my computer. In seconds, there were over 60 verses. I clicked print and received five pages of comforting scripture. At a Bible study, I handed each person a copy and asked them to pick a favorite verse and tell how they received comfort in the midst of crisis.

If the disciples had not listened to the voice urging them against all common sense to throw the net on the other side of the boat, they would have missed the excitement of witnessing a miracle. If I had given into my fear and ignored my Dad’s encouragement to jump, I would have missed the adventure and thrill of diving.

Despair following success can impact anyone: entertainers, athletes, preachers and teachers. A surge of success followed by a period of despondency and anguish. Why? It doesn’t make sense… or does it. Are successes always followed by bouts of despair? Of course not, yet it happens frequently enough to ask questions and seek guidance.